It was strange how easily they slipped into their old ways of sharing confidences, and Beth felt a twinge of conscience when she remembered what she had been plotting for Sasha, the hours she’d already spent on social media, planting the seed and nurturing it, watching for it to spread.

‘What about Corinne?’ Lisa asked, interrupting her thoughts.

‘What about her?’

‘You two seem to be good friends.’

‘Yeah. She’s cool. We’ve gotten pretty close. Especially since her dad died.’ Even as she spoke the words, she wondered was there still any truth to them. The rupture in her friendship with Corinne was a wound that would not heal.

‘Hmm.’

Lisa looked away, busying herself with the textbook, running a floured finger down the page.

‘What?’ Beth asked, and Lisa chewed the inside of her cheek, considering her answer.

‘It’s just, some people think it’s a bit odd.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘They think that you’ve changed since you’ve started hanging out with her. That she sort of controls you.’ Her brow furrowed with the awkwardness of her admission.

‘Who thinks this? Sasha and Nicole?’

‘Not just them. I do too,’ she added.

‘She doesn’t control me. Is this because of my hair?’

‘No—’

‘It’s just a haircut. Not all of us want freaking hair extensions and fake tan, you know.’

‘It’s not about how you look, Beth, it’s about your behaviour.’ Lisa paused, swallowing as if the words were causing her difficulty. Beth remembered with a pang how anxious Lisa became about any sort of confrontation. The mildest put-down could send her into a spin of neurosis. Lisa went on now, cautiously: ‘You don’t talk to anyone in school except for her, and I mean anyone. I might be the first person you’ve spoken to all term, not counting that row with Sasha and Nicole. You walk around with Corinne like she’s this precious commodity that you have to protect. Even the way you look at her when she’s talking, it’s like this adoring gaze. And you don’t even seem to realize you’re doing it!’

Beth’s cheeks burned. ‘Are you jealous?’

‘Not jealous. Concerned.’

She couldn’t look at Lisa, but she felt the touch of her hand now at her sleeve, Lisa’s voice dropping to a whisper: ‘Did something happen to you, Beth? Something you didn’t tell me?’

Anger roared within her.

‘I tried to tell you,’ she snarled but then broke off suddenly as Ms Quinn came towards them.

‘My God, girls, is this all you’ve done? Get moving and roll out that pastry, and Beth, where’s your apron?’ Beth mumbled an excuse, Ms Quinn snapping her own apron from over her head and tossing it in Beth’s direction. ‘Put that on or you’ll ruin your uniform,’ she commanded before moving away.

For a moment, Beth stood there fingering the unfamiliar fabric.